After playing four of their past five games on the road, Falcons coach Dan Quinn is elated about returning to Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Falcons, who are coming off a thrilling 34-31 victory over Seattle on Monday Night Football, are set to face Tampa Bay (4-6) at in an important NFC South game at 1 p.m. Sunday.
“We are pumped to be back here at home with our crowd to get rolling,” Quinn said Wednesday. “We’ve worked in some areas over the last few weeks, and we’ll continue to do that: that’s our third downs and our red zone.”
During the tough road stretch, the Falcons dropped games at New England and at Carolina. The posted road wins at the New York Jets and Seattle. They had a big home-win over Dallas on Nov. 12 to climb in to the sixth seed for the NFC playoffs with six games to play.
“It will be a great environment come Sunday and we can’t wait to feed off the fans energy,” Quinn said. “We’ll bring the juice as well.”
The Falcons are preparing as if they’ll be without running back Devonta Freeman for a second consecutive game. He’s in the NFL’s concussion protocol and missed the Seattle game. He was present in the locker room, but Quinn would not reveal where he’s at in the five-stage protocol.
Running backs Tevin Coleman and Terron Ward filled in against the Seahawks. Also, punter Matt Bosher (left ankle) and backup offensive tackle Ty Sambrailo (hamstring) did not practice.
Quinn wants to see continue improvement from the team on third downs and in the red zone. The Falcons were 6 of 14 (64 percent) against Seattle and scored on two of three trips inside of the Seahawks’ 20-yard line.
”Having the ability to create some third downs where you convert allows us more opportunities so now our time of possession’s better, our run attempts go better, and then in turn, some of our shots downfield on the play-action is better,” Quinn said.
For the season, the Falcons have converted on 52 of 117 third downs (44.4 percent), which ranks sixth in the league. Carolina ranks tops in the league at 46.85 percent.
“The ability to convert on third down, the byproduct is you get more plays,” Quinn said. “Now, there’s more run opportunities, more play action, so having more chances is, I think, a byproduct of playing better on third down ... we feel like we can still make big gains in that area.”
The Falcons score touchdowns on 58.8 percent on their trips (19 of 34) inside the opponents’ 20-yard line, which ranks 13th in the league. The team has scored 162 points overall on red zone trips, which is eighth in the league.
Normally, the Falcons stress working on third downs later in the week, but Quinn has moved that portion of practice to the earlier.
Quinn wants the offense to be on point against Tampa Bay’s opportunistic defense.
The Bucs give up 383.5 yards per game, which ranks 29th in the league. They are a plus-5 in turnover ratio, which is ninth in the league. So, they’ll give up yards and play for the turnover.
“I’ve always felt that when you play in their system it starts with the rush, and the get-off, and (Gerald) McCoy’s at the very front of that,” Quinn said. “His ability to jump off the ball as an inside rusher is really unique. He’s got the size of a big guy, but the quickness of a smaller man so he can beat somebody to the punch. He can be disruptive.”
Falcons guards Andy Levite and Wes Schweitzer will have their hands full with McCoy.
Both of the Falcons’s guards, Schweitzer (28.3) and Levitre (38.1), earned their lowest game grades of the season against Seattle, according to Pro Football Focus.
Schweitzer, who plays right guard, was beaten four times in pass protection and gave up four tackles on runs (one for a loss) against Seattle. Levitre, the left guard, was beaten three times in pass protection and gave up two tackles (one for loss) and he had a false start penalty.
Schweitzer was beaten on a key third down in the fourth quarter for a sack by Sheldon Richardson, that forced the Falcons to punt to the Seahawks.
In addition to McCoy, Tampa Bay’s defense, which is coordinated by former Falcons coach Mike Smith, has two spectacular linebackers in Kwon Alexander and Lavonte David.
“I’ve been especially impressed by the speed of their linebackers,” Quinn said. “Not only can they play in their zone, they can also guard man-to-man.”
Former Falcon Brent Grimes is Tampa Bay’s top cornerback.
“Grimes is still a playmaker and into that mode where he can read and diagnose a play faster than most and get his hands on the football,” Quinn said.
The Falcons are trying to keep pace in the NFC South, where the Saints (8-2) are in first place and Carolina (7-3) in second.
"I knew it was going to be a battle, and that will certainly be the case this weekend," Quinn said. "They always are. We had real regard for the division before the season started, and as you go through the season and look at the different matchups and the different ways that teams play, it's definitely a challenge as we expected."
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